MANCHESTER, N.H. – On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) joined several construction workers and New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) officials to check progress on a bridge on I-93 passing over Wellington Road.
Funding to repair northbound portions of the bridge came thanks to funding from the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act, better known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, a law that the White House has indicated “contains funding to rebuild and reinvest in our railways, public transit infrastructure and safety of our transportation system.” This funding helped enhance funding already in the NH DOT Ten Year Plan for repaving of northbound portions of the road, following construction on the southbound portion of I-93 in recent years.
Hassan said that such funding can provide maintenance preventing sudden bridge failure and she was also interested to learn from workers on the site what else she could do to help them in Washington.
She reported that one problem is motorists driving too fast and driving while distracted near construction areas, creating an unsafe environment for construction workers. Hassan also talked with workers regarding encouraging more young people to become construction workers, talking about the possibility of Pell Grants for trade schools, increasing pay for public infrastructure projects to keep up with private contractors and working with schools to provide experience for young people interested in construction or engineering as a career.
“It’s really great to spend time here seeing how our federal dollars are being spent and talking to the workers about why they do they work they do,” said Hassan.
Christopher W. Robert, President of E.D. Swett Inc., was one of the people that talked to Hassan on Tuesday. E.D. Swett is the company contracted with construction on the bridge.
“I thought it was a very good conversation, it was important for her to come out and see what we were experiencing,” said Robert. “Not only in terms of the weather and the work situation, but also regarding traffic safety: I think it’s important that we continue to spread the message regarding that forward.”
Robert said that he believes the northbound offramp on Exit 8, which is currently closed due to the bridge construction on I-93 above Wellington Road, will be re-opened sometime in Fall 2024.